So Different, They are the Same
by PinguMew98
Summary: Asuka and Rei are diometrically opposed personalities...but maybe that's why they are so similar. ReixAsuka [warnings: yuri, femmeslash, slightly darkish themes referring to Asuka's past so...spoilers]


Disclaimer: I of course don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion. If I did all Shinji x Rei or Asuka would be DESTROYED FOREVER! XP Shinji's an ass.

Author's Note: I do a sorta pseudo-NGE like Satire philosophical thing in this…so it might get a little confusing, but I want people to see how close these two girls are, and how they can be drawn together.

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Soryu Asuka Langley wasn't dumb. She graduated from a German university when she was 14. Typically, people perceived her as loud, obnoxious, mean, far too mature for her own age, and almost heartless. What she craved more than anything else was acknowledgement. She needed everyone she met to praise her for her maturity and accomplishments.

Ayanami Rei wasn't dumb either. Mostly a loner, Rei was generally seen as an emotionless puppet of Commander Ikari. No one ever tried to get close to Rei, except for Ikari Shinji, who got no closer to seeing who she was than the people who kept a considerable distance from her. "I think; therefore I am." She needed to exist in someone else's consciousness, to be accepted and loved.

You might wonder why these statements are necessary. It's quite simple, Soryu Asuka Langley and Ayanami Rei are so similar, they are polar opposites.

The classmates looked on as Asuka (loudly) introduced herself to her fellow Eva pilot. Most people were under the impression that Asuka, after being essentially told off by the blue haired girl, had decidedly loathed the girl. Asuka, on the other hand, thought nothing of the sort, and had made it her goal to have Wondergirl acknowledge her. That's all she ever wanted and Rei was the first person she had met that wasn't impressed with her off the bat. Consequentially, Rei was constantly under attack by Asuka trying to impress her. Frankly, Rei wasn't impressed and the German's constant badgering started to grate on the her nerves, though she never showed it.

"Hey Wondergirl. Did you see how fast I did those laps during gym?" Rei simply looked straight ahead, as if she hadn't heard Asuka. Normally Asuka never talked to Rei when they were waiting in the room before Eva sync testing but she was growing desperate for some sort of recognition from the blue haired girl. To Asuka's dismay, she got no reaction.

"Gott im Himmel. You really are a doll." Asuka commented. "It is not I who is the doll. It is you." Rei replied. If looks could kill, Asuka would have murdered Rei a thousands times over. "What did you say?" Asuka hissed quietly as her eyes flashed a dangerous blue. "You are a doll. You need someone to play with you." Rei's red eyes seemed to boor into Asuka, bringing up her memories she had tried to repress for years.

"We are ready for you two" Ritsuko's voice interrupted Asuka's silent fume at Rei. Turning quickly, Asuka left the room but Rei took her time, like always. It seemed like Eva 02 could tell that Asuka was angry and hurt. The red head was unable to concentrate on anything other that her pain and her need to hurt something, anything, Rei, NERV, herself. Without even wanting to, the Eva started going into a berserk frenzy. Eva 02 destroyed the walls, like it was trying to rip through them.

Asuka woke up in the hospital. "Vater unser im Himmel. Geheiliget werde dien Name. Dien Reich komme. Dien Wille geschehe, wie im Himmel so auf Erden. Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute. Und vergib uns unser Schuld, wie auch wir vergeben unser Schuldigern. Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung, sondern erlöse uns von dem Bösen. Denn Dien ist das Reich und die Kraft und die Herrliechkeit in Ewigkeit." She didn't know what made her pray (or cry) but it seemed like it needed to be done. Waking up in an empty room after blacking out was not a feeling Asuka enjoyed. The tears seemed to cleanse her of her initial feelings of being alone. Looking around, she was surprised to see that her room wasn't empty. "Scheiße!" Asuka swore as she saw the girl who had indirectly put in the hospital. "What do you want Wondergirl?"

"Why'd you end up going crazy in your Eva?" The blue haired girl asked, evading Asuka's question. Asuka looked away. She hardly let herself think about her mother's suicide, why would she let the infamous Wondergirl puppet into her thoughts. Maybe it was the praying, but she felt a driving need to tell someone, even if it was Rei. Maybe Rei was the only person who really cared. She was in fact the only person in her room when she woke up. She knew the NERV staff didn't care, and that Shinji only needed her to escape from his own pitiful reality. Coming back to her senses, she noticed Rei's burned hands. "How did you burn your hands?"

Rei looked down at her hands. "How? That is the irrelevant question. The hands are but the extension of the body which is dictated by the brain and the concept of heart. So I was merely forming an action from what was necessary." Looking up, Rei saw the German staring at her, as blankly as she only assumed other people thought she looked like. "So…what you are saying is that you opened my entry plug when it was still hot to see if I was ok?" Asuka asked trying to make heads or tails of Rei's cryptic response. "If you already knew, then why ask the question?"

Asuka looked at the albino once more. What she hated more about the girl was the way she reacted. She hated the fact that Rei did not exist in herself. She had detached from the world, just like Shinji. Just thinking about Shinji made Asuka cringe. The boy didn't even know how to live. He simply existed to bring pain to all but himself. The boy was selfish and Asuka hated him for it. Rei was different though. She didn't detach to save herself from suffering, she was simply, made (for lack of a better word) detached.

"You are thinking about me and Pilot Ikari correct?" Asuka glanced to see Rei scrutinizing her. Rei's question was met with a scoff from the German. "Why would I waste time thinking about you and Shinji?" Rei merely nodded her head in a noncommittal way and turned to leave. "Wait!" Asuka began but silently swore to herself for asking the doll to stay. Rei turned back to face the red head. "What is that you need Pilot Soryu?" "First off. Christus, Don't call me 'Pilot Soryu'. It gets on my nerves. Secondly" Asuka hesitated. She didn't want to seem like she needed help, but she was seriously afraid of being left alone in the hospital. "Secondly, tell me why don't you simply acknowledge my awesome piloting skills?" To Asuka, this gave Rei a reason to stay and it would help her find a way to make Rei acknowledge her.

Rei stood looking at the beat up German. "Why I don't acknowledge your, awesome piloting skills?" The question perplexed her. "The question makes no sense Pi…Asuka." Asuka sighed. "Listen Wondergirl. Just tell me I'm awesome." Rei cocked her head slightly to the side, giving the impression of a very confused dog. "Why do you need to be told you are 'awesome' if you yourself believe it?" That was another thing that irked Asuka, Rei's insistence at asking a question to everything. "Because Wondergirl…" but Asuka stopped. Why did she need Rei's approval?

"You are always looking for someone's approval. Why can you not simply be satisfied with your own achievements without approval?" Rei continued, talking in that monotone of hers. Asuka started to get angry at Rei's (correct) assessment of her situation. "Well why can't you simply exist in yourself instead of reacting to the world from such a detached state?" she retorted in her anger. For the first time, Asuka saw Rei react. The expression was quick to come and almost as quick to vanish but Asuka had saw a distinct, surprise to Rei. It was almost as though time slowed down and Rei's face was completely shocked.

"I see no one has ever told you that before." Asuka said with a calm air of someone who has the distinct advantage over an opponent. "I thought no one noticed." Rei responded, face as emotionless as it always was. The sudden change of dominance gave Asuka strength, and she rose from her hospital bed. Walking over to the stunned pilot of EVA 2, Asuka thought about how special this girl was. She was able to see her for what she really was.

Standing in front of the slightly smaller girl, the German leaned over so her mouth was next to the albino's ear. "Why did you come here? No lies?" Rei stood, still showing no emotion though she could hear her heartbeat in her ears when the red head got close to her. Unlike Asuka, Rei had nothing to prove. "Because you needed someone." Asuka's triumphant smile slowly melted from her face. "I don't need anyone's help. Ich bin mich selbst. Verantwortung von niemanm" the German spat. The red eyes of the albino stared unblinkingly into the cold blue ones of the German.

"You say I detach. Do you honestly think existing without someone is really living?" The red head grabbed the unmoving girl by her shirt front. "How can you even compare how I live to you? You have yet to live. You exist in nothing. I have at least connected to the world." The blues eyes flashed angrily. "Is that much better than what I have been living?" The calm red eyes. Growling, Asuka dropped Rei's shirt front. "Why do you even care if I never connect with this world?" Rei asked.

Asuka knew that at this point, she didn't really need to keep up pretenses in front of the blue haired girl. Rei saw through her so easily that the façade was more work than really necessary. "Why do you care if I connect?" Asuka asked back.

It was a showdown. The red headed German against the blue haired albino. Throwing her care to the wind she leaned in and kissed Rei. After what seemed like hours, Rei drew away. A slight smile played at Rei's lips. "You lost." "Shut up" was Asuka's response as she leaned in again.

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**German phrases translated**

"Gott im Himmel" -God in Heaven

The long phrase is the Lord's Prayer

"Scheiße"-Shit

"Ich bin mich selbst. Verantwortung von niemanm." -I am me. No one's responsibility.


End file.
